Is sustainability an exhausted concept? Bridging the gap from environmental awareness to emotional proficiency in science education through integral sustainability

Sustainability has recently become a common context for science teaching due to its potential in terms of learning the content and promoting such universal values as respect for human rights and for other forms of life, the integral development of the person, or participation in democratic processes. The treatment of the Sustainable Development Goals in higher education, improving environmental awareness and promoting sustainable attitudes through didactic interventions of some depth, is the responsibility of teachers and researchers. This study describes a didactic intervention based on the design, implementation, and testing of a Slow Sand Filter. It was carried out in a science seminar with primary teacher education students (n = 69), and served to promote sustainable awareness in addition to other skills, knowledge and competencies required for the professional development of prospective teachers. The results provide evidence that prospective teachers who feel positive and activating emotions during the implementation of the program think that the experience will modify their way of teaching science when they are teachers. Through this intervention, prospective teachers face real problems, develop sensitivity and critical thinking towards problematic situations that are being experienced on the planet, and improve their environmental attitudes, scientific knowledge, and emotional dimension towards learning the sciences.